Following an inquiry from Republican state Rep. Matt Krause, a Texas school district has flagged over 400 books in the library for review.
Krause reportedly submitted a list of about 800 books that he said contained content that was concerning to distribute to young readers, and North East Independent School District in San Antonio said its libraries held 414 of those.
Krause sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency in October, asking school leaders to identify the number of copies they had of each book on his list and how much the school districts had paid for those books. Many on the list included themes centering around abortion, teen pregnancy, sex education, LGBTQ stories, the Black Lives Matter movement, and anti-racism.
Titles included “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “The confessions of Nat Turner” by William Styron, and “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The executive director of communications for the school district, Aubrey Chancellor, responded to the letter and said, “Most of those are appropriate and will stay on our library shelves as is, however, some may contain content that needs further review to ensure the books are accessible based on age appropriateness.”
Chancellor continued, “For us, this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children.”“When I look at some of those titles on there,” she added, “they in no way are going to be inappropriate. They’re absolutely going to be reviewed and back on the shelves. So, you know, maybe all of them may end up going back on our shelves. But we just want to do our due diligence.” Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott followed Krause’s letter, adding that “pornographic or obscene material” does not belong in schools, saying that school boards are responsible for guarding students from “inappropriate content.”
“When I look at some of those titles on there,” she added, “they in no way are going to be inappropriate. They’re absolutely going to be reviewed and back on the shelves. So, you know, maybe all of them may end up going back on our shelves. But we just want to do our due diligence.”
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott followed Krause’s letter, adding that “pornographic or obscene material” does not belong in schools, saying that school boards are responsible for guarding students from “inappropriate content.”
